Even Superheroes Die
by Evie The Semi Great
Summary: Terry gets a life threatining disease. Will he make it? R&R pleez and read the A/N before the story too pleez
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This fic is inspired by and dedicated to Lurlene McDaniel, one of my favorite authors. She's a wonderful author and her stories are for young adults and teens. The books of hers that I've read so far are Angel of Mercy, Angel of Hope (Sequel to Angel of Mercy) and Too young too Die. They're all really awesome books and I encourage you guys to read them! On with the story, for you're viewing pleasure, Even Superheroes Die.  
  
  
  
Even Superheroes Die  
  
  
  
Chapter 1: A normal day  
  
  
  
Terry Miginnus or Batman, as some may know him, sat in his chemistry class trying to stay awake. You couldn't blame him though. His teacher, Mr. Anderson, was droning on about how he had lost his car keys which, I might add, is not a subject that's even closely related to chemistry. Since Terry WAS amazingly bored he decided to look over at his best friend, Max, who was furiously typing on her laptop. Max was Terry's best friend not only because she was amazingly charming and sweet but also because she held Terry's most important secret, that he was Batman. So, Terry, curiously, looked over at Max's laptop. She was taking notes; she was actually taking notes on Mr. Anderson's car keys story. He rubbed his eyes, still focusing on staying awake and turned back to the front of the room. His eyes loomed around until they finally settled on the clock above his teacher's head. It was 2 minutes until they left the class. 'Change' Terry thought. The clocked changed to 11:58. 'Come on.one more minute.' 60 seconds later it did change and Terry stood up gratefully, stretching his sore legs.  
  
"You were actually taking notes?" Terry asked Max when they left the classroom. Max kept her head down as they walked to lunch. "So what? I thought his talk was interesting." "Come on Max, you can't be serious." They turned the corner that led into the cafeteria. The room buzzed; different voices were heard, yet they mixed together into harmony, the cafeteria was the only time the students were at peace. "I am serious Miginnus." Max retorted. "Don't start with the last name thing." Terry warned her. Everyone seemed to like referring to him as "Miginnus" not "Terry". Max shrugged and walked over to the lunch line, her stomach rumbling. "I'm starved, how bout you Ter?" Max asked as she and Terry grabbed their trays and joined the rush for food. "I dunno." Terry began as he placed a small bit of food on his tray. "I don't feel hungry." "Terry Miginnus, not feeling hungry?" Max grabbed her heart sarcastically. "Don't start with me Max, I don't feel good." Terry growled. "Jeez, lay off me. You're startin to sound like Bruce."  
  
After the school day was over Terry and Max walked off the grounds into the cool winter day. "Are you gonna be all right Terry? You looked kinda out of it today." Max asked him. "I'll be fine, I'll just call in sick with Bruce." Terry assured her. "I'm not sure he'll be happy." "Who cares if he's not? I feel like crap, I'm goin home." Terry told her. "Ok, well catch you later Ter!" Max chirped as she trotted off in the direction of her apartment.  
  
At home, Terry walked into his room, threw his backpack on the floor and fell on his bed. "Ooooo." He moaned. He was about to fall asleep when his cellphone rang. "Hello?" He moaned. "You sound horrible." It was Bruce. "Yeah, maybe 'cause I feel like crap." Terry mumbled. "I was gonna call you to ask for the night off." "You think these villains take vacations?" Bruce retorted. "Oh come on Bruce, I feel like dirt. Make Max do it or somethin." "I don't care how what you feel like. Get your ass over here. Now." And with that, Bruce hung up. Terry looked at the phone for a few minutes, dumbstruck. After snapping back to reality, Terry moaned, grabbed his backpack and walked out his front door.  
  
  
  
A/N: So how'd you guys like it? I hope that if Lurlene McDaniel read it she'd like it. R&R please! 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Bat has a hospital?  
  
  
  
"It took you long enough." Bruce growled as Terry entered the bat cave. Terry raised his hand to his chest. "Don't get started with me Bruce, you should be glad I even came." Bruce snorted and beckoned Terry over to him. "There's been a robbery at Parkinson's Jewelry store." "You got me up for a robbery?!" Terry shouted. "It's your job Terry." Bruce barked. Terry looked at him, his eyes wide. "Jeez Terry, you do look horrible." Terry wiped some sweat from his head. "Yeah, well what did I tell you?" Bruce grabbed Terry by the collar of his shirt and dragged him across the floor of the bat cave. Terry, too sick or tired to react, allowed himself to be pulled.  
  
After his bum began to get sore Terry spoke up. "Where are you taking me?" "To the medical center." "You've got a hospital in you're mansion? I thought all you had was that crummy little table you fixed my cuts on." Bruce snorted again and kept walking. "You know this isn't a very good way to treat your patient." Terry joked. "I wouldn't be messing around if I were you Terry." Bruce told him silently. Terry was curious to what Bruce meant but he kept quiet.  
  
After a lot more walking and dragging they reached the medical center, a solid white room. It had an eerie feeling to it and Terry was now slightly freaked out to be there. Bruce pulled Terry to his feet and led him to a small bed. "My personal doctor will be here in a second. Now lay on the bed and shut up." Bruce instructed. Terry did as he was told; he lie on the bed, which was very hard. The sheets that covered the mattress were itchy and prickly. Although the bed was unbearably uncomfortable Terry was so out of it he fell asleep within a few minutes.  
  
"Terry, Terry wake up." He heard a deep voice tell him. He opened his eyes, slowly. His vision was blurry but he could make out the image of an African American man with a white lab suit and large glasses. "The Doctor I presume." Terry was able to speak. When he heard himself speak he was shocked, his voice was scratchy and squeaky. It sounded more like Max's voice rather than his own. The Doctor nodded and shook Terry's hand. "I'm Dr. Kerpack." The Doctor's eyes were very kind and seemed to smile down at Terry. "I'm going to be running some tests on you. No need to worry." Terry looked over at Bruce; the old man's eyes were full of fear. And if Bruce was afraid there was a need to worry. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Max does research  
  
  
  
Terry was "released" from Bruce's hospital that night. The doctor sent in the test results to a larger hospital so they could be looked over and further studied. The Doctor had asked to talk alone with Bruce, which made Terry feel nervous and left in the dark. He wanted to know what was happening to him and the doctor didn't seem to want to let him know.  
  
Terry awoke the morning after a total mess. His muscles aced yet he had done nothing strenuous that would affect him the day before. His vision was still blurred and he could barely speak. He left for school without talking to his mother and without eating breakfast. He knew that she would make him stay home from school. He couldn't let that happen because more than anything, he needed to talk to Max.  
  
Terry arrived at school at the normal time and immediately searched for Max. He found her in the computer lab, typing up a science report. She seemed to sense his presence and spoke, "Hey Ter." Without looking from the keyboard. "Hey Max." Terry squeaked. That got her attention. Max looked up at Terry, terrified. She looked shocked after looking up at him and Terry managed a small smile. "I look THAT bad?" "Well.yeah." Max stuttered. She had never seen Terry look so horrible. "What happened to you?" Terry explained everything, Bruce dragging him across the floor, the hospital, the doctor and Bruce's concerned face. "Bruce; worried? This MUST be serious."  
  
"I need you to do something for me, Max." Terry explained. Max nodded, her eyes filled with sympathy and worry for Terry. "I need you to find out what's wrong with me." "Me? But, Terry I-I don't have the kind of knowledge or technology." Max was interrupted by Terry's finger placed on her mouth. "Please Max. I know you can do this. I need to know what's going on with me." Again, Max nodded, trying to hold back her tears. "Are you gonna tell Dana?" Max asked. "No, she can't know."  
  
The rest of the day, Max stayed in the computer lab. She never came out. Not for classes or break or to eat. She was glued to the computer screen, looking for information on Terry's illness. Before Terry left he gave her a sample of his blood. She put this on a slide and loaded it onto the computer. For hours she scanned, typed, searched, did anything she could to get more information. At the end of the say she'd came out with nothing. Not a single piece of information. It was 8:00 when she finally gave up.  
  
Max pushed away from the computer. She blinked numerous times, trying to get the glow of the computer light away from her eyes. She was amazingly tired and at that moment trying not to fall asleep. She gathered her belongings, shut down the computer, and left the computer lab.  
  
Max stretched and yawned once she was finally away from the computer lab and outside the school. The cool night air chilled her vulnerable body but she welcomed the coldness. When you become the best friend of Batman, it's hard not to like the cold. Tiredly, Max walked over to her motorcycle. She stuck the key into the ignition and turned. The engine roared to life, breaking the silence of the lonely night. Max WAS about to drive when she heard her cell phone ring. "Hello?" She asked. "Get over here." It was Bruce. Without a word Max hung up and drove quickly down the street. 


	4. Chapter 4

1 Chapter 4: Doors  
  
  
  
Max wound down the streets. She didn't care if she killed anyone on her way to Bruce's mansion, all she knew was she had to get to Terry.  
  
At 9:00 Max finally reached Bruce's mansion which was on the outskirts of Gotham City. After parking her motorcycle, Max bounded up the steps to the doors that led into the haven of Batman. Once inside, a cold swept around her. Not the kind of cold she had felt from the night air, but the kind of cold that makes your very soul shiver. "Master Bruce is waiting for you. He is up the stairs and to the right." A voice told Max. She jumped around and faced a young, middle aged woman with long brown hair and soft green eyes. Max nodded her thanks and nervously, set up the steps to meet "The Bat".  
  
Max reached the correct room and reached for the doorknob, her hand shaking. She managed to turn the knob and open the door a crack. "Come in" Bruce barked. Max slipped into the room and pulled her jacket tightly to her body. The room was dim and only a few lights broke the darkness surrounding the room. Another shiver ran through her body as she approached Bruce who was sitting in a chair at the corner of the room. "How's he doing?" Max asked. "Not good. Not good at all." Bruce looked to another door at the side of the room. "Is Terry behind that door?" Max asked him. Bruce didn't say anything but she could tell that Terry was on the other side of the door. Her legs quivered as she silently made her way to the door.  
  
"Ah, you must be Max." Dr. Kerpack announced as Max entered the room. Max felt more relieved after coming into the bright and even joyful room. "Is-Is he…?" Max started. The doctor raised his hand to his chest. "Follow me." Reluctantly, Max followed the doctor through yet another door. What Max didn't know was that on the other side of that door, the doctor was going to tell her what was wrong with Terry… 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The diagnosis  
  
  
  
The room was painted a bright shade of yellow. Max gawked at the room. 'This room is in Bruce's mansion?' She thought. Dr. Kerpack signaled to a chair and shakily, Max took it. Her eyes darted around the room. Famous and extremely expensive paintings lined the walls and the rug was made of a fine, soft material. Max wanted to touch it but felt it wouldn't be appropriate. "I'm sure you know why you're here…" Dr. Kerpack told Max while taking a seat next to her. Max was snapped back to reality, she had forgotten why she was in Bruce's mansion in the first place. "Yes…I do." Max replied to the Doctor. His eyes looked troubled as he stared at Max. "Terry has a life threatening sickness…the problem is, we don't know what it is."  
  
"WHAT?! You mean to tell me you know Terry is sick but you don't know what's making him sick?!" Max shouted. She felt like slapping the Doctor. "Please Max, calm down." He told her calmly. Max shot from her chair and began to pace the room. "Easy for you to say!" She screamed. "Max, this isn't helping. I'll tell you what I know but in order to do that, you need to be sitting down and calm." Dr. Kerpack told her, again, calmly. Max slunk into the chair. Terry was dying. Her best friend…Batman…was dying from a nameless disease.  
  
"Terry has a new kind of disease, it's only just recently been identified. A man in Chicago caught it a few months ago but the doctors passed it as leukemia. The treatments, chemotherapy, they were giving him just made him worse." Max shifted in her chair, a new disease… "So, this disease is familiar to leukemia?" She asked, her face now ghostly white. "The symptoms aren't at all the same. All Terry encountered was fatigue, a small appetite and maybe a slight cough." The Doctor explained. 'A small appetite.' Max thought. She remembered at lunch when Terry barely ate anything. How could Max not have noticed? Shouldn't she have been able to tell something was wrong with him? "So why did the doctors in Chicago pass it as Leukemia?" Max asked. "We have little knowledge of diseases. There are probably millions more of them we haven't come across yet. As technology progresses and new methods of powering machines and other things come also leaves room for new sicknesses." "But that still doesn't answer my question." Max told the Doctor irritably. She didn't want this scientific mumbo jumbo; she wanted to know what was wrong with Terry.  
  
"The doctors passed it as Leukemia because it was closest disease within our knowledge to what the victim had." The Doctor explained. Max found it confusing, the doctors weren't positive that the man in Chicago had Leukemia yet they gave him the medications without a second thought. "People can be so careless." Max wrapped her arms around herself; the cold was setting in. "People are scared, not careless. Those doctors didn't want to face the fact that another disease may have turned up." "About what you were saying before…did Terry get the disease from something in the air or…" Max trailed off. "We're not exactly positive how Terry caught the disease, but we think he could've gotten it from something he was eating or drinking. You can never trust anything coming from a factory anymore." The Doctor smiled at Max but she saw no humor in the situation. "Who's 'we'?" She asked. "The hospital and I. In fact, that's where Terry is right now. Would you like to see him? I could drive you in my car." The Doctor replied. Max looked out the window into the night sky. She almost cried as she remembered Batman's quote, "I am the night". Batman…then a thought struck her, if there was no Batman, who'd protect the city? That's why Terry had to get better. Max turned to the doctor and nodded. She had to see Terry, if she didn't make him get better, who would? 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: A visit with Terry  
  
Dr. Kerpack stopped walking in front of a door that was painted a pale blue. "Terry is inside there." Dr. Kerpack told Max. Again, she hesitated. Part of her longed to see Terry while the other part was afraid. Afraid of what he might look like. She imagined wires and tubes going through his body and shuddered. Max took long deep breaths and finally opened the door and stepped into Terry's room.  
  
He was worse than Max imagined. He did have tubes and wires running through him but his skin was pale; a ghostly white. "Hey Max." Terry squeaked. Shakily, Max sat down on a chair next to Terry's bed. "Hey Batboy, how's it going?" Max asked, her voice quivering. "Well don't you sound wonderful." Terry told her with a playful smile. Max examined Terry's smile. It looked like it hurt him to do such a simple thing as smiling. `Why Terry?' Max thought. `Why did this have to happen to you?'  
  
After talking for quite some time, Terry drifted off into an exhausted sleep. Max stroked his hair and watched his chest rise and fall gently. She felt tears flow down her cheeks. `Note to self: never get attached again.' Max thought. She stayed with him for hours, just watching him breath. She couldn't leave him. What if he died while she was away? Gently, she placed her hand on Terry chest and felt his hand grasp hers. She broke out crying. Loud; painful sobs came from within her. Max laid her head on Terry's chest and cried until she had no more tears to shed. And after the crying stopped, she too fell asleep.  
  
The morning after Max gathered her things and left Terry's small room. She checked her watch that read "3:30 AM". `Too early.' She told herself. But no, she couldn't hold it in any longer. Max trounced down the hospital steps that lead to the front door. She exited and hopped on her motorcycle. `Dana's house, here I come.' Max thought, and rode off into the night. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Dana's house  
  
  
  
Max took a quick pit stop to fill up her tank then rode through the night and the deserted city roads to Dana's house. She would have to go through Dana's window. Max sighed. Why couldn't Terry be a man and tell her himself?  
  
Max rounded the corner and saw Dana's house on the end of the street. She slowed down, trying not to make noise to awake Dana's neighbors. Max pulled into the driveway of Dana's house. She turned off the motorcycle and began climbing the side of the house.  
  
She reached Dana's window with some difficulty. Hey, she wasn't Batman. Max rapped softly on Dana's window. 'Come on Dana, wake up.' She pleaded to herself. Dana didn't even flinch. Max rapped on the door loudly this time and Dana awoke quickly.  
  
"Max!" Dana squealed when she slumped over to the window. Dana opened the window and let Max inside her bedroom. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "What are you doing here?" "I have to tell you something Dana. It may be hard to believe but it's the truth." Max replied. Dana nodded though Max could tell she was confused. "Come on Dana, why don't you sit down?"  
  
Dana sat on her bed looking up at Max as she took in a long, loud breath then began her story. Sometimes Max had to stop to suppress her tears. Mostly, she looked at the floor when she was talking because looking at Dana was too painful. Max finished with, "We don't know what's wrong with him." When Max finally looked from the floor Dana was white and panic stricken. Dana fell off her bed, crumpled into a ball on the floor and cried.  
  
When she had no more tears to shed, Dana asked, "Can I see him?" Max nodded. "When?" "Sometime…perhaps today. I'm not sure." Max paused then looked up at Dana. "No, let's go now. I think Terry has something he owes you." "Owes me?" Dana asked. "Something he hasn't told you…" Max's voice trailed off. She took Dana's hand and led her down the side of the house just as the sun was coming up.  
  
Dana and Max jumped on the motorcycle and rode off to the hospital. 'You have to tell her Terry. You owe her that much.' Max thought. 


End file.
